Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

My experience at MSU has been amazing! I’ve had so many opportunities that enhance my passion for engineering, science, and research. Here at MSU, I have made life-long friendships and met outstanding professors who have expanded my horizons. I am also involved in many student organizations such as Pi Sigma Alpha, Tau Beta Pi, Pi Tau Sigma and have gained substantial leadership experience. I spent my last two Spring Breaks volunteering through MSU BreaksAway. In 2017 I traveled to San Francisco and helped to prepare and serve meals to homeless people. I then spent Spring Break 2018 in Phoenix teaching an English language-based computer skills program for refugees. In FIRST Lego League Robotics Competition 2017 and 2018, I helped elementary school students from Montana to navigate the competition. Last summer, I interned at Spika Design & Manufacturing and worked on many projects including designing aircraft maintenance platforms. I have also been working in the Fluids & Computations Lab on vertical water turbine design and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis as an undergraduate researcher. Currently, I’m going to my senior year and I am so excited to mentor freshmen and sophomore engineering students as an Engineering Academic Peer Leader (ePAL) and help students get more involved in activities on campus, in the local community, and in the global community as Student Engagement Global Ambassador (SEGA).

When I’m not studying, I enjoy exploring outdoors. I like hiking, photography, skiing, playing soccer and basketball. I also like watching movies, cooking, reading, and traveling.

I originally came to MSU with the plan of transferring after several semesters to pursue an Aerospace Engineering degree, but ended up staying here because I enjoy Mechanical Engineering. My freshman year went exceptionally well, and in doing so I experienced the library nightlife, as I am sure many of you will do throughout your college career. Junior year, however, I began to struggle with class and MSU eventually informed me that I would be taking a semester off. 

While this was exceptionally difficult to hear, it also allowed me to take a step back and look at my priorities along with what I truly wanted to do with my life. I re-applied to MSU and was accepted back so I hit the opportunity with new vigor. The first three years I had not joined many clubs or put myself out there so the first thing I did was become a teaching assistant with the goal of helping others and leading by example. 

Having enjoyed being a TA, I added ePals to my list of leadership roles in order to show that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. Being involved on campus is extremely rewarding and allows you to meet so many great people in the process.

Do engineers not study? I enjoy mountain biking and camping during the fall (the Beartooths are exceptionally beautiful). There are some amazing corn and hay bale mazes around the Bozeman area in October, some of which I have wandered around in completely lost at night. Sadly I haven't made it out snowboarding the last several years but I hope to find time this year. I enjoy having friends over for holiday potluck meals and playing board games (except Settlers of Catan, that's a friendship ruiner). Every now and again I make it home to Butte to visit my parents.

 Overall, I have had a really positive experience at MSU. I hit a few rough spots along the way but I've had a great support system ranging from the friends I've made to the instructors I've had.

 When I'm not studying I like to run and I also enjoy watching movies.

My experiences at MSU have been great so far! I came to MSU knowing I wanted to study engineering, I just wasn't sure what branch interested me the most. After starting school in General Engineering with an interest in Civil, I realized that wasn't really my thing. In my second semester at MSU, I made the switch to Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Aerospace, and haven't looked back. The classes and labs I have taken have been extremely interesting and hands on, and I have met some of the most amazing people and friends while attending MSU! 

 Another thing that has made my time at MSU so amazing has been getting involved on campus. At the start of my sophomore year, I took a student worker position in the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering office, and it has been one of my best decisions yet! I get to work on campus with a flexible schedule (which is a huge bonus when you have giant breaks in your day) and network with people and professors that I otherwise may never have met! Not to mention, the people I work with are the bomb! In addition to working, I am a member of the Women in Engineering (WIE) Student Advisory Board, I am a Sophomore Surge Mentor, I participate in the MSU Volleyball Club, and I participate in MSU intramurals, along with being an ePAL! If any of these clubs or programs are something you are interested in, please feel free to reach out to me!

 Over the past two summers, I have interned at Autopilot, a local machine and manufacturing shop, and Boeing respectively. Being an intern has allowed me to gain valuable experience in industry, and really put what I am learning in the classroom to the test. I have also gotten the chance to see what I enjoy, and what I don't enjoy, which will benefit me in my job search. Now entering my senior year, I look forward to all of the opportunities that will come with being a senior, and an MSU grad.

Even though I spend most of my time studying, there is the occasional hour or two where I get to take a break and do something completely unrelated to school! During these times, I enjoy hanging out with my friends, playing with my dog, or doing anything outdoors! I'm also a huge proponent of school life balance, AKA, I take Saturdays off, which is normally when I go for a hike, go fishing, hit the slopes, or explore all that Bozeman has to offer. I also love to watch movies and I enjoy all the streaming services known to man to watch all my favorite shows!

From making lifelong friends in the dining halls to late hours in the library my time at MSU has laid the foundation for a lifetime of learning and growth.

I came to MSU set on studying Mechanical Engineering; however, after sophomore year I realized that I wanted a more hands on learning experience and future career. So I made the decision to change to MET. I love working with people, so I decided to pursue an Engineering Management Minor too.

I was diagnosed with Narcolepsy—a sleep disorder—going into my junior year of high school. Since, coming to college I have found both my professors and the Office of Disability, Re-Entry and Veteran Services to be extremely understanding and helpful. If you have any questions about going to school with a disability, I would be happy to talk about it with you.

Last summer I had an internship with Montana Instruments, a company here in Bozeman. In addition to the many technical skills I developed, I learned so much about what it means to have and to create a great company culture. This summer I worked for IMERYS-Talc, a mining company, as a process engineer. Internships have made my classes the last two years so much more interesting and applicable.

When I’m not studying you can catch me running in circles for the MSU Track Team. Or hanging out with friends at CrossLife. I also love anything outside—hiking, hunting, fishing, skiing, canoeing—and playing any sport. #backyardvolleyball

I am currently going into my fourth year of college here at MSU, however, I am going into my third year as a student in the college of engineering. I spent my first year of college majoring in Cell Biology and Neuroscience with the intent on someday becoming a dentist. I quickly discovered that biology was not my forte and that the physics and math courses I was taking seemed to be the only part of my time in school that I was enjoying. I made the decision to switch majors halfway through my second year at MSU and it has been the best decision of my college career so far. I went from barely passing my classes and letting everything I learned go in one ear and out the other to being excited about learning and wanting to apply everything I was learning about to my everyday life. I took my newfound passion for learning and channeled it into becoming a tutor for the physics department. I’ve spent the past two semesters teaching small study groups for physics I with and without calculus (205 and 220) and have loved every second of it. I’ve found that I like teaching physics almost as much as I love learning about it. This past semester I’ve started to become a lot more involved in the college of engineering. I’ve joined the Society of Women Engineers as well as the Women in Engineering Board. The physics department and college of engineering have made me feel at home here at MSU and I can only hope that I can help others feel the same way I do about learning through tutoring and programs like ePALs.

I’m not going to lie, I’m a massive nerd. When I’m not busy studying for classes and doing my homework I spend a lot of my free time reading —my favorite subject to read about being physics. The only thing I love more than physics is Star Wars. So, whether you’d like to talk Newtonian forces or the forces harnessed by the great and powerful Jedi, I’m your girl. When my nose isn’t in a book I like to spend my time outdoors, whether that means I’m hiking, running, walking, swimming, skiing, going to the farmers market, or picnicking in Lindley park. I consider myself an extraverted introvert and believe that I can get along with anyone. I like to spend time interacting with new people and having board game/movie nights and going to museums with my friends, both old and new.